190 posts from November 2010

November 30, 2010

Jacob Jurberg, 29, allegedly assaulted the 7-year-old girl inside the Young Israel of Greater Miami temple in late August. The young victim helped police find the suspect after she pointed him out in a line up.

In the race to win a grant, officials at Abi's Place, a school for 10 moderately to severely disabled children, say they were betrayed by their counterparts at two Chabad schools, Hebrew Academy Community School in Margate and the Rohr Bais Chaya Academy in Tamarac.

In their public notice, the rabbis warn against one of the great spiritual threats of today: "chareidi news lines," which fill their listeners with vapid messages and negative contents rife with loshon hora. These phone lines also present perverse worldviews and blatant disrespect for rabbis, talmidei chachomim and gedolei Torah.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs on Sunday approved with a large majority a bill initiated which states that all conversions carried out by army rabbis are legal and cannot be annulled.

November 28, 2010

Written in what appeared to be a felt-tipped black marker, the letter said in Hebrew, "BEWARE FOR YOUR LIVES! If Yaakov does not step down from the position that he has taken at Chen 19, WE WILL TAKE HIM DOWN. With thanks, The S.O.S. Society." Oddly, the letters “S.O.S.” were carefully printed in English.

Three sisters from Bnei Brak reportedly underwent daily, systematic sexual abuse at the hands of their father over the past five years, it emerged on Sunday after the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court lifted a gag order on the case. The father, who ran from police, was found hiding in Mea Shearim.

A piece of luggage containing an M-16 assault rifle and pistols was discovered in the parking lot of a residential building in Ganei Geula, a haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem, according to reports in the online haredi media.

In response to a widely circulated rabbinical ruling against renting out flats to Arabs, migrant workers or African refugees, the head of Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva says "Jewish sovereignty cannot exist without caring for foreigners living among us."

The reconstruction of Mumbai's Chabad House has been halted and the Bombay High Court has taken possession of the building that became a symbol of the terror attack — which began two years ago Friday — as the parents of its slain rabbi fight a Jewish group over who should control it.

November 27, 2010

“I don’t think some naughty Jewish guy with a chip on his shoulder is going to bring ritual circumcision down,” Mr. Trager said, listing dictators like Hitler and Stalin who tried to forbid the practice.

With his dark suit, black skullcap and graying beard, Rabbi Haim Amsalem hardly looks the part of a revolutionary. But the soft-spoken lawmaker is causing an uproar in the influential and tight-knit ultra-Orthodox world in Israel with a simple message: It's time for people to go to work.

The Holtzberg family trust wants Nariman House to be an innovative Jewish education centre for children, with Moshe's room preserved as it is. Freida denied that there was any monetary dispute. "This is not about funds but principles. Chabad wants Nariman House to be a memorial, but we think memorials are just that. We want it to be of service to the community."

Shas newspaper compares maverick lawmaker to the biblical tribe of Amalek, which Jews are commanded to wipe out. In response, a lawyer filed a police complaint about the threats against Amsalem while the Knesset's Master of Arms assigned a bodyguard to protect Amsalem 24/7.

A Williamsburg kosher food company is locked in a battle with former workers who charge they were stiffed out of overtime pay - and then fired when they complained. National Labor Relations Board investigators found that Flaum Appetizing Corp. illegally booted the workers, and ordered the company to cough up around $260,000 in back pay. But owner Moshe Grunhut has refused to comply - saying he won't pay the workers – many of who worked at Flaum for as much as a decade – because they're undocumented immigrants.

More than two dozen Guatemalans are scheduled to arrive soon in Postville, where they will join relatives who helped investigators after a 2008 immigration raid. Most of the newcomers are children whose mothers used to work at Postville's Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. A few are the siblings or parents of former child workers.

In an 11th hour settlement, shechita (kosher slaughter) of poultry will continue after agreement was reached between the New Zealand Jewish community’s lawyers and the country’s Minister of Agriculture.

Haredi missionary organization under investigation for not paying workers hired to remodel its boys camp. Oorah claims a subcontractor is the true employer but it also admits it owes that subcontractor money.

"'Pikuach nefesh' (saving of human life) is not on the bus, but on education about the importance of human life. Many hours should be invested in knowing how to drive without drinking, and not in buses… The problem is that young drivers couldn't care less about the law and drink and drive."

Most Jews in Israel are unhappy with the government policy over issues of state and religion, according to a survey published Wednesday by Hiddush, an organization that promotes religious freedom and equality. Most seculars believe there is not enough religious freedom in Israel, while the majority of haredim claim the government's policy on the matter is too pluralistic.

November 24, 2010

As part of a "rapid increase" in Jewish services in the terror-stricken financial capital of Mumbai, India, Jewish community officials are placing the final touches on a restored mikva built by the murdered directors of the city’s Chabad House, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg. The mikva is not located near the devastated Chabad House and was not damaged in the attack.

“I want it to come back and have it be better and bigger,” Rabbi Holtzberg said. He added that he waited a year and a half for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement to start renovations and when it did not, he and his wife decided to begin on their own with the help of local supporters.

Baby Moshe, the cherubic face of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, still remembers his slain parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, and considers the Chabad House here as his home even as he grows up in Israel, his grandparents said here Wednesday.

"We must remember that the ultra-Orthodox society isn't a herd of animals locked behind a gate. The have very similar problems to those of the secular society. Emotionally, we are all human beings and we all want to feel good about our bodies."

The father of slain Chabad Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg says Chabad is stealing millions of dollars donated to rebuild Nariman House and care for his tiny grandson. Chabad denies this. The dispute became public when Chabad first sued Rabbi Holtzberg's representative in Mumbai to stop repairs on Nariman House. Holtzberg counter-sued, alleging embezzlement by Chabad leaders.

Bnei Brak city hall launched a public campaign against renting apartments to migrant workers and refugees two weeks ago, but it now appears the municipality actually employs a number of migrant workers itself.

Jessica Fishman says she doesn’t want to talk politics. The slender 30-yearold would rather talk about the past, about her dreams to make aliya, her service in the IDF Spokesman’s Office, her years as a student at Herzliya’s Interdisciplinary Center and as a 20-something living in Tel Aviv. She would rather talk about almost anything instead of discussing the story’s end, where dejected and defeated, she left Israel with her life hanging in tatters around her.

Long known as a Christian stronghold and more recently as home to evangelical and charismatic Christian groups, this area on the fringes of northern Indonesia has become the unlikely setting for increasingly public displays of pro-Jewish sentiments as some people have embraced the faith of their Dutch Jewish ancestors.

By his own admission, Perry Newman spent $5 million of his clients’ money on himself and his family. The Hampstead resident is the subject of an investigation that alleges Newman used affinity fraud to fleece the mostly Orthodox Jewish customers who were referred to him as a financial whiz and currency expert.

There are fire and safety violations at many of the buildings, "hazards [that] continue to pose a risk to all residents." An inspection covered 36 basements and found problems ranging from missing stair railings to gas lines not being properly capped. There was a problem with some fire alarm systems and exposed wiring.

Six men were arrested on Sunday when police found more than a thousand fake ID cards at the offices of three nonprofit organizations that operate yeshivot in the Jerusalem area. The suspects allegedly falsified the records in order to receive monthly stipends from the Education Ministry for students who did not exist.

Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg, father of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg who was killed in the attack on Chabad House two years ago, has accused the ultra-orthodox Jewish group his son worked for of “large scale manipulation and falsification of records... to grab” the Nariman House property as well as “pocketing millions of dollars” raised to renovate the badly-damaged building in South Mumbai.

Failed messiah was established and run in 2004 by Mr. Shmarya (Scott)Rosenberg. The site was acquired by Diversified Holdings, Feb 2016. .We thank Mr. Rosenberg for his efforts on behalf of the Jewish Community.

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